Bill C-16 (Canada)

In June 2017, Canadian senators passed Bill C-16, “An Act to amend the Canadian Human Rights Act and the Criminal Code.” On June 19 the bill received Royal Assent and subsequently became law.

“This enactment amends the Canadian Human Rights Act to add gender identity and gender expression to the list of prohibited grounds of discrimination.

The enactment also amends the Criminal Code to extend the protection against hate propaganda set out in that Act to any section of the public that is distinguished by gender identity or expression and to clearly set out that evidence that an offence was motivated by bias, prejudice or hate based on gender identity or expression constitutes an aggravating circumstance that a court must take into consideration when it imposes a sentence.”